Really, Wanderer? Twins?! There’s got to be more out there than I was able to think of but I’m still drawing a complete blank. Well, an almost complete blank. I came up with these three.
Dead Ringers (1988)– I rarely know what to say about a David Cronenberg movie even immediately after watching it so the fact that I didn’t get a chance to rewatch this bizarre story of twin gynecologists with a bizarre relationship puts me at a huge disadvantage. What I do remember is that both twins- one devilishly charming and the other wracked with social anxiety- are played to perfection by the great jeremy Irons. They may look exactly alike but we can always tell them apart by their posture and body language.
Adaptation (2002)– Speaking of werid movies about twins, weird screenwriter Charlie Kaufman dreamt up a twin brother for himself and got that nut Nicolas Cage to play both of them. Much like in Dead Ringers, Charlie is socially awkward and especially shy around pretty girls while Donald has an almost pathological lack of anxiety. Donald may be a big goof but Charlie has a lot to learn from him. Adding to the weirdness, fictional Donald Kaufman gets a writing credit on Charlie’s screenplay (and even gets nominated for an Oscar because of it).
The Skeleton Twins (2014)– The gimmick of having the same actor play twins can be a lot of fun but if that doesn’t work casting two actors who were born five years apart and look nothing alike will work too. Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader play estranged twins who reunite after Milo’s (Hader) suicide attempt. I’m still not completely clear on why their relationship is so strained or why both twins are pretty messed up but the sincerity of both SNL alumni surprises even a fan like me.
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
I love The Skeleton Twins and Adaptation was good too. I’ve never seen Dead Ringer, but it does sound interesting!
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I was especially impressed with Bill Hader in The Skeleton Twins since I’ve never seen this side of him before. Kristen Wiig never surprises me anymore- her talent seems almost limitless. As for Dead Ringers, it’s a very interesting movie with two great performances from the same guy. I don’t love it though (or even fully understand it probably).
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Dead Ringers is such a bizarre movie that is saved by the acting of Jeremy Irons and Genevieve Bujold.
I considered the Bette Davis flick Dead Ringer for this week wherein she plays twins as well, supposedly one good and one evil though considering the extreme measures the “good” twin takes to extract her revenge bad twin and slightly less bad twin would be closer the mark, but moved on to others.
The Skeleton Twins is on my watchlist but I haven’t gotten to it yet, I’ll have to move it up with all the mentions its gotten. I HATED Adaptation so very much.
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That’s two Charlie Kaufman scripts that I just love that you couldn’t get into. I don’t know, I just think he’s great. Maybe a little impressed with himself but still great.
I agree with you completely about the acting in Dead Ringers. Without it, I’m not sure I would have been able to find much reason to recommend it.
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I haven’t seen The Skeleton Twins, but I love the other two picks!
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Thanks, Andrew! I am missing reading your picks already.
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Really? You struggled? These are all flim flam compared to the genius that was….wait for it……. TWINS!!! Danny Devito (swoon!) Arnold Schwartzkopfneger (not swoon) 😉😉 as a by Jeremy Irons was also in The Man in the Iron Mask with Leonardo de caprice whatever, damn you predictive text, John Malkovitch and Gerald departing haha no Depardieu which I really liked for its swashbucklingness. I’ve had wine.
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I like the cut of your jib, Fragglerocking. I didn’t much like Twins though although I am very excited about the sequel where they discover they have a triplet played by Eddie Murphy.
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my jib appreciates your like 😀 I am thinking the sequel -Triplets- has been written but put on hold for the time being, I am not sure they can improve on the perfection that was Twins, and Arnie & Eddie are well past their sell dates, but anything where Danny De Vito sally’s forth has got my vote. 😉
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Danny DeVito, eh? Not sure I appreciate him as much as you seem to. Hopefully you’ve been watching lots of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
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I like that someone besides me says that they like the cut of someone’s jib.
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Well the. I like the cut of yours too. It’s actually one of my favourite things to say. Sacha Baron Cohen got me into it in Hugo when he says the oppsosite (“He doesn’t like the cut of your jib”).
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I still need to see The Skeleton Twins. Great picks!
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Thanks! I was really reaching this week.
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I really liked the Skeleton Twins, I could even forgive the uncomfortably long lip synching.
Yu know what twin movie I like? Stuck on You: Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear as conjoined twins who half-dream of Hollywood. What an awful, fantastical movie!
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The lip synching scene (which I was dreading after talking to you) was much less self-indulgent than I was afraid it would be. Kristen Wiif saved it for me.
Stuck on You came THIS close to making the cut. Matt and Greg were both amazing in that.
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What? No double dose of Van Damme in Double impact 😉 hehe jokes. You listed 2 of the best I could think of. I need to see Skeleton still, thanks for the reminder. Here’s another fun option, Multiplicity, with Michaek Keaton. Um, does Watchmen count? 😉 Great post though. Concise descriptions too.
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I have not seen Double Impact but I strongly considered fixing that last week. Van Damme has actually played twins twice I believe, also in a film called Maximum Risk, another classic that I regret having missed. Wasn’t Multiplicity clones? I’m not sure if Watchmen would count. What characters were you thinking of?
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I was thinking of same actor on screen as 2 characters. So clones could work, by that rationale. I was kinda joking though. Watchmen had multiples of Dr Manhattan, the blue naked guy.
I think Maximum Risk was watchable, since it also starred Natasha Henstridge from Species. 😉
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Oh Dr. Manhattan, I forgot how he would replicate himself- even have one of him have sex with his girlfriend while he was off in another room working on some physics. Good call.
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Ashamed to say I haven’t seen any of these (but really want to!)
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Adaptation is by far my favourite of the three so I would start with that one. Thanks for visiting!
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